Hybrid_From_Hell Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Hi All, I currently have a nice Boxford Lathe, with all the tooling, which is nice and does the job but is limited when it comes to heavier duty work, and I have been using a Harrision M300 for that, and there is obviously a Massive difference. So, I was about to buy a 'bigger' lathe, but the deal fell through (long story) So, When you look at say a M300 vs a Boxford CUD Unit one is more a "Hobby Lathe" the other is more proper commercial unit, if I wait for another short bed M300 I could be waiting a very liong time so was wondering from those here who have more experience in these units, what else is power wise and capability wise along the liones of an M300 ? The key things are It needs to ultimately be run on single phase, so there is I belive a HP Maximum ? Also Size wise - the more compact the better, I don't need a long bed Thoughts please and options ? Nige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuck Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Nige, I was in a similar position and in the end I went for an old Colchester Student with a gap bed. I managed to find one with very little backlash and it's superb. I converted mine to single phase without much faff but you will be limited to about 4HP if you are wanting to run it from a socket, mine is ok like this, only thing it wont do is set off at max rpm with a cold gearbox (it trips the breaker), once it's been used for 5 minutes it's fine though. I know where there may be one for sale but it's in Derbyshire... HTH Mick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyw Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 A quick look at the links below shows that the M300 and Student 1800 are pretty much the same size, with 25" or 40" between centres, and similar swing. The Student has 16 speeds, and the Harrison 12.The Student has a 3HP motor and a top RPM of 1800. M300 also has 3HP and top RPM of 2500. I'm sure my Student is only around 5' long, so fits in my garage nicely, and Nige you've seen how packed my garage is. from what I have seen there are a good number of short bed Students about. Link to Student details Link to Harrison M300 If you want to go a wee bit smaller, and older there's the Colchester Bantam (link) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyw Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 What about this older style Student(ebay link)? Not too far away for you to look at. And it's a short bed model Or even this one, bit further away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I'd look for a Colchester Student. The one I used at my old school was great . Loved every second I spent on it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl hurst Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Personal choice would be go for a student over a M300, The student has a heavier cast bed than a 300,A master is the same as a student but longer bed and more speeds, Also depends on what you intend to do, consider the spindle bore in the head because this will limit the size of bar you can get through, a student has approx 35mm through bore and a triumph 2000 has a 50mm but the latter is a larger lathe, Also look at tooling, go for a D1- Cam Lock chuck fitting as you will have a greater choice for tooling, Carl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ally V8 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Personal choice would be go for a student over a M300, The student has a heavier cast bed than a 300,A master is the same as a student but longer bed and more speeds, Also depends on what you intend to do, consider the spindle bore in the head because this will limit the size of bar you can get through, a student has approx 35mm through bore and a triumph 2000 has a 50mm but the latter is a larger lathe, Also look at tooling, go for a D1- Cam Lock chuck fitting as you will have a greater choice for tooling, Carl. I spent many hours standing at a Colchester Triumph 2000 as an apprentice - a really nice tool,big enough to do most jobs,they seem to hold their value though as with most decent kit.I'll be looking for one shortly,as soon as my workshop gets its rehash.I was talking to someone the other day who was on about modern inverter type phase converters.Are they big enough to run a 7.5hp motor on single phase ? I know inverters are clever,but that seems like its pushing it a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl hurst Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I spent many hours standing at a Colchester Triumph 2000 as an apprentice - a really nice tool,big enough to do most jobs,they seem to hold their value though as with most decent kit.I'll be looking for one shortly,as soon as my workshop gets its rehash.I was talking to someone the other day who was on about modern inverter type phase converters.Are they big enough to run a 7.5hp motor on single phase ? I know inverters are clever,but that seems like its pushing it a bit. As for converters you will be surprised what they will run, but it depends on what single phase supply you have, I run a transwave rotary converter, it is huge and was not cheep (near 2k) but it runs all my machines and the lathe is a harrison M450 with a 12HP motor on it, i also had it modded so it works the welding plant as well, I have a 100 amp single phase supply to the workshop and converter is on a 80amp breaker, it is surprisingly efficient as well, don't burn a big hole in electric bill, When transwave built it for me i had to give them all the info off each machine and they sorted me the unit, it was costly with the electrics on top as well but it has saved in the long run, Carl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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